AT&T Inc. and Sí TV today announced a distribution agreement to deliver Sí TV — the first English-language network for America's young Latino and multicultural audience — as part of the AT&T U-verseSM TV channel lineup.

After technical issues and delays (See Swisscom's Delay a Bad Sign for IPTV?, Swisscom has met their strategic goal (See Swisscom Fixnet to Launch Bluewin TV in 2006) and has announced the availability of Bluewin TV, their new IPTV service, starting November 1st.

Swisscom's Bluewin TV service offers 100-plus television channels, 70-plus radio channels, 500-plus top films via on demand, live sports coverage and up to 30 Teleclub channels. The monthly fee for the basic offering, Bluewin TV Plus, is CHF 29 ($23 US, 18 Euro).

To receive Bluewin TV, customers need a broadband Internet connection (an ADSL 150 subscription is sufficient). Content is broadcast via the Bluewin set-top box which is connected to an ADSL or VDSL modem. Customers in areas which do not yet provide VDSL access can have only one TV channel transmitted at a time, and pay CHF 26 instead of CHF 29 for the basic package.

New developments in Home Phoneline Networking (HomePNA) technology will give the market a boost, and help it become a viable player in deployment of home video networks, reports In-Stat. Migration is underway from the lower-speed HomePNA 2 to HomePNA 3, and worldwide shipments for HomePNA 3 will exceed 200% growth in 2007, the high-tech market research firm says.

HomePNA 3.0 currently supports speeds of 128 Mbps and guarantees quality of service for video, audio, and VoIP.

Pixelmetrix has announced the integration of the H.264 Advanced Video Coding capability in its new DVStation-IP, to decode MPEG-4 Part 10 video elementary streams. These are presented as thumbnails within Service View, one of the key features of the DVStation-IP.

The DVStation-IP Service View consolidates all information and performance parameters of IPTV Services into an easy-to-navigate central screen. This enables operators to quickly identify problems, thus minimizing service disruption.

The big news today definitely surrounds Brightcove, who has finally launched their new service that allows content owners of all sizes to launch their own Internet TV channels for free and empowers them to generate revenue through advertising and video download sales.

You can check out what some companies are saying about the new service such as TasteTV, who has been using the Brightcove platform for their Indie Food Channel.

Coinciding with the launch of the Brightcove Network, the company announced the availability of several new services designed to generate revenue and increase distribution for Internet TV channels.

Consolidated Communications has selected Entone Technologies Hydra HD IP video gateway for their IPTV services.

With approximately 240,000 access lines throughout Illinois and Texas, Consolidated Communications is the 16th largest telephone company in the US. The company has provided telecommunications services to its communities for more than 100 years and now offers a triple-play service bundle of voice, video, and data.

IneoQuest Technologies (IQ) announced its IP Video Quality Management System (iVMS), the first end-to-end IPTV video quality and service assurance solution. iVMS delivers a complete view into the "health" of an IPTV network never before possible with other systems. Additionally, iVMS provides rapid, practical, isolation and remote troubleshooting, enabling network operators to maintain the highest possible video quality, while helping to reduce operating expenses.

It appears MTNL isn't wasting any time in expanding their channel listing. (See MTNL Launches First India IPTV Service)

Optibase, Ltd. and Time Broadband Services Pvt. Ltd., announced that they are expanding their IPTV solution to India's state-owned major telecom service provider, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL).

Calix announced it will host a pre-show workshop on Monday, November 6, at the TelcoTV 2006 Conference and Expo at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Dallas, Texas. The workshop will feature four different sessions and provide insight from Calix executives as well as from customers, partners, and industry analysts on the current trends in delivering IPTV services in North America.

New ways of watching television are on the rise, challenging the traditional way of broadcasting. The media consultancy [tbb\*] thebrainbehind therefore invites experts and decision makers from around the globe to discuss these trends at our sixth B2B conference TV Outlook 2007 – The paradigm shift of TV consumption, December 1st 2006, at the Literaturhaus Munich.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of Global IPTV Market Analysis (2006-2010) to their offering.

The Global IPTV Market Analysis (2006-2010), report provides extensive research and objective analysis of the Global IPTV Market, its performance and its future prospects. This report helps the clients to analyze the trends and developments in IPTV Market across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific Regions. It also helps in gaining useful insights into the current IPTV market in countries falling under the above-mentioned regions.

Warner Music Group and Brightcove announced an agreement to offer consumers easy-to-use, on-demand access to WMG's extensive catalog of music-based video content including music videos, artist interviews, live performances, and "behind the scenes" footage from its award-winning artists and labels. This agreement further increases WMG's opportunities to make its video catalog commercially available in the digital space as well as marking a first for the Company to commercially distribute its video content directly to consumers.

Music fans can easily add the video players to their blogs, web sites, and personal profile pages using the player sharing services provided by Brightcove. It's about time, but is it too late? You can already do the same with YouTube.

Latin America's regulators and operators discuss the issues surrounding IPTV development

Brazil, home to a top ten world economy - and a fast-developing Internet market already approaching 30 million users - will turn its technology attention to the IPTV phenomenon in January, when Rio de Janeiro is the venue for the region's first ever IPTV World Forum Latin America www.iptv-latinamerica.com, 30th-31st January, 2007 www.iptvworldseries.com.

Comcast and Sony look to add a little fright to the Halloween season and beyond by launching a new platform, called FearNet, to provide video content via cellphones, Comcast's video-on-demand service, and the Internet.

FearNet will feature over 200 horror films from Lions Gate, Sony Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The movies will be free using the Comcast On Demand service and FearNet web site.

Officials at Comcast said FearNet represents the future of their blended solution: offering programming over the Internet and via video-on-demand.

Verizon began offering its FiOS TV service to consumers in the Long Island village of East Rockaway via the company's fiber-optic FiOS network. The company will launch its FiOS TV service later this year in the Westchester County Town of Greenburgh and, upon New York State Public Service Commission approval, in the Long Island communities of Smithtown, Huntington, Valley Stream and Farmingdale as well as the Westchester County village of Irvington.